2878: Basque Surnames in Spanish Nov 7, 2024

The Basque language is a mysterious isolate, found between formerly Celtic-, now Spanish- and French-speaking regions, but its impact on them has been significant. Many Spanish words, some of which have even entered English, come from Basque, like ‘avalanche’ and potentially ‘cony’, and ‘silo’, as well as ‘vega’ as in ‘Las Vegas’ (lit. the meadows). 

One of the greatest impacts it has in the modern day is the many surnames that come from Basque. Many of these come from inheriting the names of previous farms when new tenants bought the land. Names like Mendoza (“cold mountain”), Iñigo (with many variations including ‘Iniguez’) for ‘beloved’ or literally “my little” and Garcia come from Basque ‘gartzea’ meaning ‘young'. These are among the most popular of the Basque-originating Spanish names, with Garcia being one of the top 5 most popular Spanish / Hispanic names globally.